stories

All I had known of Borneo before my trip was what I’d learned on Google many years before. ‘Borneo, a giant, rugged island in Southeast Asia’s Malay Archipelago, is shared by the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, Indonesian Kalimantan and the tiny nation of […]

A short stopover in Bangkok, on my way back to London. The thrill of walking the busy, life-filled streets, and then slipping away from the crowd into a silent temple. Back out again, into the back of a tuk-tuk (life flashing before you), zooming down […]

I did a terrible job of photographing Berlin. I have no idea why, but I came back with 10 photos of brunches and train stations. What an oversight! We stayed in hip Friedrichshain, and spent our days in Mitte at The Barn Coffee Roasters and […]

My mother and I often roadtrip around the US. It’s our thing. And since I was a teenager, we’d promised to go on a Fall Foliage trip around New England, and stay in a B&B – just like that episode of Gilmore Girls. So over […]

After a weekend in Stockholm, Stina and I jumped in the car to drive out to the countryside. We were headed for Örebro, Stina’s university town, and the countryside surrounding it. We were to spend the week by Lake Hjälmaren, Sweden’s fourth largest lake, with […]

After one and a half years, I finally get to see my lovely friend Stina again. Last I saw her was when I left on this adventure, leaving her in a limousine with the rest of my friends at Melbourne Airport. We meet up in […]

The last stop on our road trip around the Black Forest was Freiburg, a medieval university town on the edge of the forest, and one of the greenest cities in the world. Home of the famous Freiburg Minster, a beautiful cathedral built in the 1200’s, […]

From Baden-Baden, we drove down south, deeper into the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). We stopped for the night in Hornberg, a tiny little town deep in the forest. We stayed with a lovely Airbnb host, who told us all about his little town. Much history for such […]

Oh, Baden-Baden. Known as a retreat for the wealthy, holiday destination of the Queen and Obama. For us, the gateway to the Black Forest, our first stop after crossing the border from France. For a couple of Aussies, Baden-Baden was insanely obscure. We’d never heard […]

Thank you discount airlines. When picking our next place to visit, we went to the sale section of a popular European airline, and selected the cheapest flight we could find. To wherever. It was a toss up between Romania and Eastern France. France won (though […]

I won a trip. To the unbelievably luxurious Buckland Tout-Saints country manor, set in 4 1/2 acres of countryside and woodland. In the Master Suite. As soon as we were alone in our room, Dylan and I remarked simultaneously that the bedroom alone (yes, there […]

My life, since the beginning of this year, has taken a turn completely unexpected. An excellent, marvellous, wonderful turn. After the finish of my book, I couldn’t even think about writing. I needed a hiatus. So I started to email a few people about opportunities […]